Prognosticators and pundits always mention the music industry as a harbinger of what’s to come/what’s happening in the publishing industry. But an equally valid parallel might be found in the porn industry.

BTW, dg is having a high-quality full-size heated silicone replica of himself built. It will be marketed under the name NC Seminars—Writing to the Max.

dg

Five hundred years ago, while Martin Luther was using the printing press to disseminate his 95 Theses, Italian author Pietro Aretino was using the new invention to get his “School of Whoredom” on bookshelves. “When new media offer new markets, porn spies them quickly and rushes to fill them, like an amoeba extruding a new pseudopod where its skin is thinnest,” wrote legal scholar Peter Johnson in a mid-1990s essay.

If video sales aren’t going to be the cash cow they once were, a growing number of adult stars are hedging their bets by moving into the piracy-proof realm of sex toys. As one industry insider quipped, “you can’t download a dildo.” Fleshlight, a Texas-based producer of male masturbators has contracted with several adult models to produce silicone replicas of their most intimate parts. Other stars have taken it a step further by sponsoring full-size, heated silicone reproductions. For $7,000, hardcore porn fans can pick up an eerily lifelike Doppelganger of their favourite stars.

Doomsayers continue to herald the end of the adult industry. Lifestyle blog AskMen.com even likened this year’s Adult Entertainment Expo to “one big party on the Titanic.”

The NC discussions are open to anyone. It's a friendly place, easy to join. Just sign in on the comment box with your email address and write your comment. If you stick around, people will get to know you and you're in (except, of course, for the usual credit and criminal record checks, birth and citizenship authentication, school transcripts starting from kindergarten, photocopies of tax records, ID, credit cards, debit cards, etc.). If you turn up often and seem to get the drift of the magazine, you'll be invited to submit. Please respect the generally high level of camaraderie and amiability already in evidence.

The management wishes to acknowledge the financial support of Douglas "Deep-Pockets" Glover and no one else.